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While the \tterm \u201cmentoring<\/em>\u201d is an extension of the Mentor \u2013 \tTelemachus narrative from Homer’s The Odyssey<\/em>, (the account \tin Fenelon\u2019s Les Adventures de Telemaque<\/em> is better and more \tapplicable) and as such is extra biblical, the semantic framework \tcommonly associated mentoring certainly is a biblical concept. I understand \t\tthis framework to be:<\/p>\nAn intentional trust relationship in which \t\ta more experienced person supports, guides and develops another in \t\tlife, ministry and leadership.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There are a \t\tnumber of contemporary types of intentional relationships which we \t\tcontrast with mentoring in our training, these include: spiritual \t\tfriendship <\/strong>(soul friends, or the Celtic anamchara<\/em>), \t\tspiritual direction<\/strong> (in both its Catholic and Protestant forms), \t\tdiscipleship<\/strong>, counselling <\/strong>(therapeutic), pastoral care<\/strong>, and life \/ \t\tleadership coaching<\/strong>. While we distinguish between these, many of \t\tthem have a similar theological and biblical basis.<\/p>\n
The biblical \tand theological basis for us is derived from three primary areas of \treflection:<\/p>\n
Biblical \t\texamples of experienced persons mentoring emerging leaders. Each of \t\tthese are examined in our training and participants reflect on the \t\tcontact, experiences and processes involved in each leader being \t\tmentored.<\/p>\n
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- Jesus and \t\t\this disciples (particularly Peter, James and John)<\/li>\n
- Barnabas \t\t\tand Saul \/ Paul<\/a><\/li>\n
- Paul and \t\t\tTimothy<\/li>\n
- Paul and \t\t\tTitus<\/li>\n
- Moses and \t\t\tJoshua<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are \t\tseveral important NT Greek terms which we spend quite a bit of time \t\ton in the training seeking to understand how they might are \t\tapplicable to mentoring. These take the forms of word studies based \t\ton NT Greek usage. Again our mentoring trainees work with each of \t\tthe applicable references which include these terms and we seek to \t\tconstruct a basis for mentoring out of them.<\/p>\n
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- katartizo \t\t\t\u2013 <\/em><\/a>to \t\t\tequip, prepare, restore, train, perfect or complete<\/a><\/li>\n
- parakaleo \t\t\t\u2013 <\/em>to encourage, exhort, call alongside, challenge<\/li>\n
- allelon<\/em> \u2013 the one-another responsibilities of the NT.<\/li>\n
- typos<\/em> \u2013 setting an example, a form to be imitated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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There are \t\tseveral theological concepts which we have found instructive in \t\testablishing, framing and facilitating mentoring relationships<\/p>\n
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- Our \t\t\tcommunal God and human relationships (especially community [we \t\t\tneed each other], covenant [the nature of a commitment to journey \t\t\ttogether between Christians] and accountability [to what degree \t\t\tare we connected and responsible for each other?])<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- The \t\t\tprocesses of holiness, purity, refinement and personal growth \t\t\t(what we would have traditionally called sanctification)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Servant \t\t\tleadership: I.e leadership not primarily as a individual skillset \t\t\tbut as a relational dynamic in which others are empowered to grow \t\t\tand serve.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- The \t\t\tspiritual parenting metaphors of Scripture: Paul’s reflection in 1 Thess<\/a>, an example – Naomi and Ruth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I have been training mentors for around 20 years and am fairly strongly convinced that the only<\/span> way they can be adequately prepared is by:<\/p>\n
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- Being \tmentored themselves for a period of 2 \u2013 3 years and<\/li>\n
- Learning \tmentoring in an action-reflection mode of formation (i.e. books, \tseminars and studies are useful to give a conceptual framework but \tthey do not create mentors)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In our \t\ttraining we begin with people who have the \t\t\tpersonal spiritual and relational maturity to mentor and feel called \t\t\tto this ministry. We begin \t\ttheir formation in a 4 day residential and get them started in \t\tmentoring. The training \t\ttakes place intentionally over three years of supervision, \t\tequipping, resourcing and reflection on their mentoring facilitated \t\tin 9 \u2013 12 workshops.<\/p>\n
Our goal is \t\tfor a person to be able to say to us:
\nI am a mentor. \tI have mentored 5-6 people through at least \t12 months<\/a> of leadership growth. I know the kind of approaches to \tpastoral development that work for me and can articulate my \tphilosophy of mentoring. I have a sense of my strengths and \tweaknesses as a mentor. I have a wide range of useful resources to \tuse in mentoring and am in the process of creating more. I have a \tsettled conviction of where mentoring fits in the overall shape of \tmy life and ministry for the future. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I often get asked about the term ‘mentoring’ and whether it has a theological and biblical base.\u00a0 This is a great question and an important area in which not enough work has been done. I will reply by sketching out the way we handle this in our training of mentors within John Mark Ministries. For … <\/p>\n